Grant awarded to Medical Ambassadors International

The Foundation is pleases to support Medical Ambassadors International.  Medical Ambassadors International (MAI) is an international organization working to  transform the lives of children, women, and men by addressing the root causes of poverty, disease, and hopelessness. MAI uses a proven process called Community Health Education). CHE is a “grassroots-level” program and ensures that over a period of several years, whole communities are lifted out of cycles of poverty and disease. Through its leadership team, a group of master trainers, and program facilitators in the field, MAI has been able to harness the active engagement of well over 50,000 CHE volunteers around the globe. At present MAI works in 2,582 communities around the world.

The 1,000 days between a woman’s pregnancy and her child’s 2nd birthday sets the Foundation for all the days that follow. Literature proves that the first 1,000 days of life, from conception to two years of age, are the most important to a child ́s brain development and to determine educational capacity in a given population. Differing from previous assessments taking the range from birth to five years of age, it has been considered more recently that focus has to be placed on health and nutritional status of the mother, conditions of delivery, breastfeeding and weaning foods and micro-nutrients. This is in addition to the more traditional concepts of macro-nutrients, (carbohydrates, proteins and vitamins-minerals), as commonly taught in the past. MAI in partnership with Medical Ambassadors Canada Association, Medical Ambassadors Haiti, Mombin Crochu Hospital and Bwadelorans Hospital, have baseline data and three years of control studies to help them build an evidence-based work. Studies also show that much more needs to be done at the community level to decrease stunting and malnutrition.

Since 2017, MAI has focused their CHE efforts on the 1,000 days program, understanding the importance of healthy infants for the future of Haiti. To improve health conditions, reduce stunting, malnutrition and decrease anemia, MAI started multiple Moms’ Clubs where, together with local health workers (CHE volunteers), they aim to safeguard proper development during the first two years of life.

The grant will be used to continue the work that has begun and to continue to provide financial support to local partners. This will contribute to the reduction of maternal mortality and child malnutrition in the areas of North and North East Haiti.